Mr. Children 1995-1997
What happened in 1995?
What happened in 1995 with Mr. Children?
In 1995, the second half of the Atomic Heart tour started, lasting from January 1 to February 2. Mr. Children also became involved in charity work, doing a collaboration song with Keisuke Kuwata of Southern All Stars. The single "Kiseki no hoshi" (Qi Ji noDi Qiu ) was used as the theme song for the Act Against AIDS campaign, was produced by Mr. Children and written by Kuwata. To promote the single and the campaign, they held a one-month tour from April 18 until May 14, entitled Live UFO '95 Rock Opera "Acoustic Revolution with Orchestra" Kiseki no hoshi (Live UFO '95 Rock Opera "Acoustic Revolution with Orchestra" Qi Ji noDi Qiu ), where the group did cover songs of many English speaking artists such as The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. During the tour the group was also filming a documentary/concert movie called Es ~Mr. Children in Film~. It was released in theaters on June 6, 1995, preceded by the group's eight single "Es (Theme of Es)" on May 10, to promote the movie. Two months later the group held an open air tour titled -Hounen Mansaku- Natsu matsuri tour Sora [ku:] (-Hounen Mansaku- Xia Ji ri1995 Kong [ku:]) from July 16 to September 10, during which the ninth single, "See-Saw Game (Yukan na Koi no Uta)" (shisogemu ~ Yong Gan naLian noGe ~ ) was released on August 10.  On February 6, 1996 Mr. Children's tenth single "Namonaki Uta" (Ming monakiShi ) was released, to promote the Japanese drama Pure (piyua) and also for Daio Paper's Elleair (erieru) commercial. The single went on to become Japan's highest first week selling single of all time (which was later broken by idol group AKB48) and is currently Japan's eighth highest selling drama tie-in single. The success of the single was also a surprise for Sakurai, who admitted to spending very little time writing the song. Two months later, on April 5, 1996 the group's eleventh single "Hana (Memento Mori)" (Hua  -Memento-Mori-) was released, followed by their fifth original album Shinkai (Shen Hai ) on June 24 and their twelfth single "Machine Gun o Buppanase (Mr. Children Bootleg)" (mashinganwobutsuFang se -Mr.Children Bootleg-), on August 8. To close the year, the Regress or Progress Tour started and lasted from August 24, 1996 to March 28, 1997. The group visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts.  Mr. Children's 13th single, "Everything (It's You)", was released on February 5, 1997, with the title track used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Koi no Bakansu (Lian nobakansu). A month later, on March 5 Bolero, Mr. Children's sixth album was released. Soon after, rumors started of the group disbanding. Sakurai's reply: "The band will dissolve only when we have no more talent and have relationship problems with each other." Yet the group then decided to take some time off. Nakagawa and Suzuki start a side project band called Hayashi Hideo, and joined by Kenji Fujii from My Little Lover and Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows, went on a club tour. CANNOTANSWER
In 1995, the second half of the Atomic Heart tour started, lasting from January 1 to February 2.
, commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 75 million records and creating the  in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held the record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single , have 30 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) to have the most number 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World" and in 2004 for "Sign". As of 2012, Mr. Children has published fifteen original studio albums and 34 physical singles, along with five compilations, a live album, and fifteen home video releases.

The band's music is mainly composed and written by lead singer Sakurai, with the exception of the Suzuki-penned songs "Asia" and "#2601" from the albums Atomic Heart and Discovery, and occasional collaborative song writing with producer Takeshi Kobayashi.

In 2012 they celebrated their 20th debut anniversary by releasing dual best album titled Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞. Both albums dominated the best-selling album category in the 2012 Oricon yearly chart, selling over 2.5 million copies. Mr.Children has become the third artists who achieved TOP 2 spots on the yearly album ranking, and this is the first time in 14 years for any artist to achieve this. Moreover, [(An Imitation) Blood Orange], an album of new material released in November 2012, debuted No.1 on the Oricon Chart—at the end of the year, all three albums released that year were in the Top 10 best selling albums of 2012.

In 2015, Mr. Children was named No.1 Concert Mobilization Power Ranking based on the overall number of people whom attended their performances during 2015 in Japan, mobilizing 1,119,000 fans (36 concerts).

History

1987–1992

The group's members first met in the year of 1987, when Sakurai, Tahara and Nakagawa were in  The Walls, which was originally influenced by the band Echoes. The frontman of Echoes, Jinsei Tsuji, was a political activist, and because of this, The Walls too became a political band. Drummer Hideya Suzuki was not an original member of The Walls. When the original drummer departed, the band recruited Suzuki, who went to the same school as the other members. In late 1988, The Walls disintegrated, while the remaining members formed Mr. Children in early 1989. The name of Mr. Children supposedly came about during a talk in a dinner, in which the group thought the word "children" had a nice ring to it, but because they were no longer children themselves, they decided to add Mr. in front of it. They credit this change as a new way they started to look at the group.

After changing their name and overall sound, Mr. Children auditioned at a music club called La Mama, failing to pass the first time, but passing a second audition to play at the club. After playing in the club, they were asked to try and debut as professionals. Mr. Children sent out five demo tapes; all failed to generate record label interest, and the group took a three-month hiatus in 1991. Hideya Suzuki worked as a receptionist at an economy hotel, while Kazutoshi Sakurai worked with his father who owned a construction company. When they returned, the group created a sixth demo tape and caught the attention of Toy's Factory. The label signed the group and had them play as the opening act for the rock group Jun Sky Walkers. It was also during this time that they were introduced to their long-time friend and producer Takeshi Kobayashi. Kobayashi was already known in the music industry as a music composer for Keisuke Kuwata of Southern All Stars and Kyōko Koizumi.

1992–1994 
On May 10, 1992, Mr. Children's debut album, Everything, was released and represented the long journey they took to get to this point. Three months later their first single  was released on August 21, 1992. After the release of the single the group held two tours for the album, both held between September 23, 1992 and November 5 of the same year, the '92 Everything Tour comprising ten and the '92 Your Everything Tour consisting of twelve performances. To cap off the year and lead them into the next, Mr. Children released their second album, Kind of Love and their second single  on December 1, 1992. "Dakishimetai" was later used as an insert song for the Japanese drama . Shortly after, a new tour called '92–93 Kind of Love Tour started and lasted from December 7, 1992 till January 25, 1993.

In 1993, with the completion of the band's tour they began work on for their third album. The first single of the new year to be released was "Replay", released on July 1, 1993 and used in  commercials. On September 9, 1993 their third album Versus was released, but failed to bring the group into the spotlight. They continued on and held a new tour. The '93 Versus Tour was held from September 23 until November 5 and had the band holding nine performances. Shortly after, "Cross Road" was released on November 10, 1993, which was used to promote the Japanese drama . The single was not a hit, but through word of mouth "Cross Road" gained popularity and after 22 weeks sold over a million copies and later, though released in 1993, managed to become the fifteenth best selling single in Oricon's 1994 yearly charts. Sakurai confessed years later as to not liking his works up to this point. According to him:

On June 1, 1994 a new single called "Innocent World" was released and used a promotional song for the soft drink . The single solidified the groups popularity with its sales, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies and becoming the No. 1 selling single in Oricon's 1994 yearly charts. Afterwards work began on their fourth original album Atomic Heart. The album was released on September 1, 1994 and became the band's highest selling album to date. Due to the huge success the band received from the album and "Innocent World" single, the groups popularity built up creating the  in Japan.

The band also had Takeshi Kobayashi produce two new tours for them. The first tour, named after the "Innocent World" single was held from September 18 to December 18. The band also released their sixth single "Tomorrow Never Knows" on November 10, 1994 which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . The song was written while the group was on tour, was later voted in 2006 as fans No. 1 all-time favorite song on Music Station, and is currently the third highest selling drama tie-in single in Japan. The next single,  was released on December 12, 1994, though originally intended to be the B-side of "Tomorrow Never Knows". To end the year, "Innocent World" won the Song of the Year award at the 36th annual Japan Record Awards.

1995–1997
In 1995, the second half of the Atomic Heart tour started, lasting from January 1 to February 2. Mr. Children also became involved in charity work, doing a collaboration song with Keisuke Kuwata of Southern All Stars. The single  was used as the theme song for the Act Against AIDS campaign, was produced by Mr. Children and written by Kuwata. To promote the single and the campaign, they held a one-month tour from April 18 until May 14, entitled , where the group did cover songs of many English speaking artists such as The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. During the tour the group was also filming a documentary/concert movie called Es ~Mr. Children in Film~. It was released in theaters on June 6, 1995, preceded by the group's eight single "Es (Theme of Es)" on May 10, to promote the movie. Two months later the group held an open air tour titled  from July 16 to September 10, during which the ninth single,  was released on August 10.

On February 6, 1996 Mr. Children's tenth single  was released, to promote the Japanese drama  and also for Daio Paper's  commercial. The single went on to become Japan's highest first week selling single of all time (which was later broken by idol group AKB48) and is currently Japan's eighth highest selling drama tie-in single. The success of the single was also a surprise for Sakurai, who admitted to spending very little time writing the song. Two months later, on April 5, 1996 the group's eleventh single  was released, followed by their fifth original album  on June 24 and their twelfth single , on August 8. To close the year, the Regress or Progress Tour started and lasted from August 24, 1996 to March 28, 1997. The group visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts.

Mr. Children's 13th single, "Everything (It's You)", was released on February 5, 1997, with the title track used as the theme song to the Japanese drama . A month later, on March 5 Bolero, Mr. Children's sixth album was released. Soon after, rumors started of the group disbanding. Sakurai's reply: "The band will dissolve only when we have no more talent and have relationship problems with each other." Yet the group then decided to take some time off. Nakagawa and Suzuki start a side project band called Hayashi Hideo, and joined by Kenji Fujii from My Little Lover and Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows, went on a club tour.

1998–2000
On February 11, 1998, they released their 14th single , theme song to the Japanese drama . The group was still on hiatus during this time and made no live performances to promote the single and did not appear in the music video for the song. Finally on October 21, 1998, Mr. Children officially re-grouped and released their 15th single,  with the Japanese drama  using it as their theme song. The song remains a public favorite in voting polls, Oricon citing its inspirational lyrics as the reason.

On January 13, 1999, , their 16th single, was released, followed by their seventh album, Discovery, on February 3, 1999. Sakurai compared his approach to the songwriting for the record to surfing:

Eleven days later they began the Discovery Tour '99, from February 14 to July 12, where the group visited 16 cities and held 42 shows. During the tour, Mr. Children released their 17th single "I'll Be" on May 12, which was used in  Sea Breeze commercials. Though originally released on the Discovery album, the song was re-released as a single with a lighter beat. The single was not a success and became Mr. Children's lowest selling single since "Cross Road". During the Discovery Tour '99, an idea for a live album was brought up. It was released as a 500,000 copy limited edition on September 8, 1999 and called 1/42 (referring to one of the 42 shows in the tour). Most of the tracks were recorded on June 16, 1999 at the Makomanai ice arena, while the bonus track "Dakishimetai" was recorded at the Okinawa Ginowan-Shi seaside park.

At the beginning of a new century , released on January 13, 2000 became the group's 18th single. While "I'll Be" failed to be a success, "Kuchibue" proved to be a hit selling 724,070 copies. On August 9, 2000, their 19th single "Not Found" was also used as the theme song to the Japanese drama , followed a month later by their 9th original album Q on September 27, 2000. The band went to New York to record this album, where they re-recorded some of their old indie material and for the first time, producer Takeshi Kobayashi performed with the band on a recording. The cover for the album was shot bought Size, Inc. at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. The album was not a favorite amongst fans for various reasons and became their first album since Atomic Heart to not sell over one million copies. ‘Concert tour Q’ started, visiting 13 cities and holding 35 concerts between October 15, 2000 and February 24, 2001.

2001–2003
In 2001, Mr. Children continued their Q tour, followed by dual "Best Of" albums. Titled Mr. Children 1992–1995 and Mr. Children 1996–2000, they were both released on July 11, 2001. Both albums went on to sell a combined total of 4,034,785 copies. According to an interview done with MTV Japan Sakurai stated the best of albums weren't something they had planned on doing yet. During this time, the group was finishing up work for their new upcoming album and had planned to start promoting singles on it. However it was decided that a best of album was needed and so they were released. Four days following the dual album release, the group launched the ‘Popsaurus’ tour, visiting 10 cities and playing 15 shows, lasting from July 15, 2001 all the way through September 25, 2001. A month into the tour their 20th single  was released and used to promote the Wonda Canned Coffee by Asahi Soft Drinks. Two months after the Popsaurus tour ended, "Youthful Days" was released. Released on November 7, 2001, it was their 21st single and was an insert song for the Japanese drama Antique Bakery. "Youthful Days" debuted at number-one on Japanese Oricon's Charts in its first week at retail (ahead of Mr. Moonlight (Ai no Big Band) by Morning Musume, from album 4th Ikimashoi!), and It ended up being their best selling single for the year. The b-side for the single, "Drawing", originally had no commercial tie-in, but two years later was used as the theme song to the 2003 Japanese drama , Starring former Shibugakitai member Masahiro Motoki.

Mr. Children released their 22nd single  on New Year's Day of 2002 (January 1), which was used as a show song in the Japanese drama Antique Bakery. Four months later their tenth original album It's a Wonderful World was released on May 10, the groups' tenth anniversary. The release of the album on their 10th anniversary was not something that had originally intended. As the group was wrapping up recording, Sakurai asked if the album could be released in the spring time. While the group and their management was trying to think of how to promote an album in the spring time, they came up with releasing the album on their 10th anniversary. A new tour, titled Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was set to begin later that year. The previous single "I'll Be" from the Discovery album was selected to be used as an official theme for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, held in Japan and South Korea. On May 24, 2002 Mr. Children attended the first ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan and topped the awards show by winning 'Video of the Year' for the song "Kimi ga suki", the band also nominated in Best Group Category but losing to Backstreet Boys. Two months after the release of the new album, Mr.Children's 23rd single "Any", was released on July 11, 2002 and used to promote NTT DoCoMo Group 10th Anniversary. The group was not able to properly promote the single. As preparations for the new tour were beginning and promotion for the new single were being done, lead singer Sakurai was hospitalized on July 21, 2002, after a blockage in his cerebellum was detected. The Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World was canceled and all group activities were put on a temporary hiatus. While recovering, Sakurai wrote a song called "Hero", that was inspired by his hospitalization. The song was released as the group's 24th single on December 11, 2002 and was used in NTT DoCoMo Group 10th Anniversary commercial. The first press version of the single included a DVD where, in addition to a Mr. Children 2002 documentary -Hero- that was aired, the singer talked about his hospitalization and inspiration for the song. On November 15, 2002 Mr.Children's website announced the band's return to the stage for a "stew of home pride" with a one night only live,  December 21, 2002 the group returned to the stage for a single concert, later released on DVD, titled Wonederful World on Dec. 21.

The group remained quiet for most of 2003. Sakurai helped to launch Artists' Power Bank (AP Bank), a non-profit environmental financial institution, in June. Sakamoto Ryuichi, a well known composer, came up with the initial idea to build a wind-power plant. With the help of Sakurai and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi, their goal later became to invest in environmentally friendly projects, such as renewable energy, and as of 2007, participated in other social issues such as helping the victims of a Chuetsu offshore earthquake in Niigata Prefecture on July 16, 2007. Near the end of the year, Mr. Children re-grouped and released their 25th single . It became their first double a-side single with "Tenohira" receiving no commercial tie-in, and "Kurumi" used to promote . The single was a hit and became Mr.Children's best selling single since 2001's "Youthful Days" single.

2004–2006
In 2004, Sakurai started a solo project titled Bank Band, which became a spin-off of AP Bank. As Bank Band, Sakurai released a first album, titled , which contained covers of two Mr. Children songs, "Hero" and "Yasashii Uta". Mr. Children released their eleventh album on April 4, 2004, titled , which came with a documentary DVD showing the group working and talking about the concept behind the album. To help promote the album, Mr. Children used the song  in 'Nissin Cup Noodle – NO Border' commercials and as the 'News 23' theme song. According to Sakurai,  is

In the following month, they released their 26th single, "Sign", on May 26, which was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Orange Days and went on to win the Song of the Year award at the 46th annual Japan Record Awards ten years after their win for 'Innocent World'.

Most of the 2005 was spent working on a new album. As a solo act, Kazutoshi Sakurai appeared at Golden Circle vol.7 on February 28, 2005. Finally on June 29, 2005 the group released their 27th single . The single became a monster hit selling 569,000 copies its first week, and ending with 925,632 copies sold. As a quad a-side single, all four songs had a commercial tie in.  promoted 'Pocari Sweat', "and I love you" promoted 'Nissin Cup Noodle – NO Border',  became the theme song for the Japanese movie 'Fly Daddy Fly', and  was used as a promotional song for Fuji TV's educational program 'Kodomo bangumi Ponkikkiizu, Gachagachapon'. Even though it was released as a single, it was classified as an album by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. A month later the group attended Kazutoshi Sakurai's 3-day festival 'ap bank fes’ 05' from July 16, 2005 through July 18, 2005, followed by 'SETSTOCK '05' at Kokuei bihoku kyuuryou park on July 23, 2005 and 'Higher Ground 2005' at Umi no nakamichi kaihinkouen outdoor theater on July 30, 2005. Three months later on September 21, 2005, I Love U (I♥U), Mr.Children’s 12th original album, was released. Two months later Dome Tour 2005 'I Love U' began, running from November 12, 2005 through December 27, 2005 and were only the fourth artist in Japanese history to play at the Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka dome's. The tour ended in Tokyo Come where they played to 45,000 fans, bringing the tour total to almost 390,000 fans. By the end of the year the group managed to pass the 45 million mark in sold records.

The first single for 2006, was their 28th single  released on July 5, 2006 and used as the promotion song for Toyota's "Tobira wo akeyou" commercial and as the theme song to NTV's 2006 FIFA World Cup broadcasting. Due to the groups involvement with ap bank fes. '06, there were no magazine or radio promotions, and only 3 live performances were done to promote the single. However the commercial tie-in's for the single proved to be a success and "Houkiboshi" was voted No. 3 as the favorite commercial song for 2006 and voted as the favorite winter song heard in the summer. Ten days following the release of 'Houkiboshi', Mr.Children participated in the 3 day festival, ap bank fes '06, where they performed "Hero", "Strange Chameleon", "Owarinaki tabi", and "Hokiboshi". One month later Mr.Children were special guests at The Mujintou fes. 2006 and performed "Mirai", "Innocent world", "Hokorobi", "Sign", "Owarinaki tabi", "Worlds end", and "Houkiboshi". Shortly after Mr.Children announced a joint tour with fellow Japanese rockers the pillows, known as 'Mr.Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~'. The tour was held from September 26, 2006 through October 11, 2006. On November 15, 2006, the group released their 29th single , which was used as the theme song , by NTV, a controversial television drama about underage pregnancy. Kazutoshi Sakurai had begun writing the song in February 2006 and finished writing in March 2006. and shot the promotional video in September 2006. One of the b-sides of single was a re-recording of Mr. Children's 2003 song "Kurumi", used as a theme song in the movie .

 2007 
On January 24, 2007, the band released their 30th single, , which was used as the theme song for the movie , and while only a limited edition single, brought the group to 26 consecutive No. 1 singles. Shortly after, the 13th original album, Home, was released on March 14, which would become the group's first in almost 13 years to chart at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. It was also the first Japanese album in 2007 to sell more than a million copies. Work on the record had come to a standstill, during the recording of the song "Houkiboshi", due to a dispute among the group over "Home"'s direction. Producer Kobayashi suggested to make an album that "pays attention to the world with a message".

The album reflected a more personal touch from the group, with  talking about the 9/11 attacks at New York City, and , being inspired by Kazutoshi Sakurai father who had been sick. The title of the album, Home, was originally suggested to be titled "Home Made" or "Home Ground", because the group wanted the album to have the meaning that it was made by hand. However, they choose to name it just Home because they felt that by adding another word it would be limiting the idea in mind. Three days after the release of Home, Mr. Children won the awards Best Video of the Year and Best Group Video for the single "Shirushi" at the Space Shower Music Video Awards '07. For the album, the group held two promotional tours. The first half called Mr. Children Home Tour 2007, started on May 4 and lasted until June 23. During the tour, a new compilation album titled B-Side was released on May 10, which was also the group's 15th anniversary. The release of a B-side compilation had been suggested by singer Sakurai while working on Home:

Releasing a public statement on their official site at Toy's Factory, both the group and Sakurai felt that the A-side tracks on their singles had started to dictate and overall theme as to who Mr. Children were as a group. They felt a lot of feelings and desires which have shaped them as a group came from these coupling songs, and thus decided to release them as a compilation album.
On May 5, 2007, after the second concert for the first half of the Home tour, drummer Hideya Suzuki injured his hand after accidentally touching a ventilator. He injured his left index finger, which required four stitches and the following two concerts had to be rescheduled. Publicity for the tour reached a high, when they performed in front of a sold-out tour for 15,000 fans at Yokohama Arena on June 7, 2007 and reignited speculation that the Mr.Children phenomenon was alive and well. A second half of the tour to promote 'Home', titled Mr.Children Home Tour 2007 -In the Field- took place from August 4 to September 30. Both tours ended up being a big success for the group, and became the most attended Japan tour in 2007 at 550,000 fans. The main promotional track for the Home album, , was selected to promote the Olympus E-410. During the E Goes to World campaign, the camera manufacturer had customers submit pictures to create a new promotional video for the song.

On July 10, Mr. Children announced a new song on their website titled . While initially a single release date wasn't issued, the group announced a month later it would be released on October 30, 2007. The title track, "Tabidachi no Uta", was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie , and a month later also be used to promote NTT Higashi Nihon. With the release of the single, Mr. Children managed to debut at number 1 for the week and in return obtained their 27th consecutive number 1 single. Similar to Jyūyonsai no Haha before, the movie Koizora deals with the struggles of a young girl, involving betrayal, rape and abortion. The group was scheduled to play at the ap bank fes '07 from July 14 to July 16, but due to a typhoon, the first two days had to be canceled, and only the final day proceeded as planned. With the announcement of the new single, Mr.Children also announced the 'Home' tour 2007 DVD, which was released on November 14, 2007. On December 18, 2007, Oricon announced that Home became their first album to top the yearly album charts since their debut with the sales of 1.18 million copies, surpassing the sales of Kumi Koda's album Black Cherry of 1.02 million copies.

 2008 
For the beginning of 2008, Sakurai released an album and DVD with his solo project Bank Band, followed a month later by the official announcement of a new song, , used in the NHK Japanese television drama . Afterwards Mr. Children announced the release of two singles. The first, "Gift", released on July 30, 2008, was used as the official theme song to the 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage on NHK. When writing this song, Sakurai focused on the meaning behind the Olympics and wanted to write a song not just for those who win, but for everyone who participates.

The ap bank announced that Mr.Children would appear for all 3 days at ap bank fes '08. Their second single of the year, "Hanabi", released on September 3, 2008, was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Code Blue, in which Tomohisa Yamashita played a main role. The single "Hanabi" topped the Oricon single charts for two weeks, becoming their 29th consecutive number-one single. However, their next single  became their first download-only single for the music download market. The nun full-track ringtone downloads (Chaku Uta) of the song began on October 1 and the full-track downloads (Chaku Uta Full) began on November 1, 2008. Their studio album Supermarket Fantasy was released on December 10, 2008. Supermarket Fantasy sold about 708,000 copies in its initial week, debuting at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly album charts.

2009–2011
On October 20, 2009, it was announced that Mr. Children produced their first anime theme "Fanfare" for the movie One Piece Film: Strong World. "Fanfare" was digitally released as a non full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta) on November 16 as a full-track ringtone song (Chaku Uta Full) on December 2, 2009. The song debuted at the number-one position on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart.

On May 10, 2010, Mr. Children released the DVD Mr. Children Dome Tour 2009 Supermarket Fantasy in Tokyo Dome, but it sold about 49,000 copies one day before the official release day, debuting at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart with the one-day sales. It became their seventh consecutive number-one music DVD and they tied the records of Arashi and KAT-TUN for having the most consecutive number-one DVDs on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart. It also debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly comprehensive DVD chart, eclipsing the sales of Avatar in the week. It topped the Oricon comprehensive DVD charts for three consecutive weeks, making them the second artist to achieve that with the music DVD while the first is Arashi.

On September 4, 2010, Mr. Children released their second documentary/concert movie Mr. Children / Split the Difference (since first "Es" ~Mr. Children in Film~) and released DVD + CD includes the movie and selected songs by the band on November 10, 2010. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart and they also became the first artist to have their eighth consecutive number-one music DVD.

On December 1, 2010, Mr. Children released their sixteenth studio album Sense includes digital release only single "Fanfare". But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of the album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29.

On April 4, 2011, Mr. Children released the download single "Kazoe Uta" to collect donations for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. "Kazoe Uta" debuted at number 1 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, surpassing the download sales of AKB48's charity single "Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)".

2012

On April 18, 2012, Mr. Children released the Triple A-side single "Inori ~Namida no Kidou/End of the Day/pieces", their first in 3 years and 7 months; the single debuted at number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Single Charts, selling 174,409 copies.  Two of the songs, "Inori ~Namida no Kidou" and "pieces", were used as the themes to the Bokura ga Ita movies.  In addition, "Inori ~Namida no Kidou" spent four weeks atop the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, tying the record set by GReeeeN's "Haruka".  Also released on April 18 was the band's "Mr. Children 2011 Tour Sense -in the field-" DVD, which debuted at number 1 on both the Oricon DVD and Blu-ray charts, making Mr. Children the first artist to top three of Oricon's charts in a single week.

On May 10, 2012, Mr. Children released a pair of Best Albums titled Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ in celebration of their 20th anniversary.  The band also embarked on a 2-month dome tour, titled "POPSAURUS 2012", after the series of concerts they held in 2001 following the release of their first two Best Albums.

On November 28, 2012 Mr.Children released new album titled ［(An Imitation) Blood Orange］.

At the end of the year, Mr.Children had dominated the yearly album ranking for 2012 with all 3 albums in the top10. Their dual best albums Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ and Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ monopolized TOP 2 the best selling album of 2012 yearly chart with selling 1.17 million copies sold and 1.11 million copies sold consecutively. Moreover, ［(An Imitation) Blood Orange］ placed 8th in the best selling album in 2012.

They have both achieved "the best selling album" and " the most Artist total sales Albums " for 2012. Mr.Children became the third artists who achieved TOP 2 spots on the yearly album ranking, and this is the first time in 14 years for any artist to achieve this . Mr.Children was the 4th artist by total sales revenue in Japan in 2012, with ¥9.947 billion (approximately $84 million).

2014

On November 19, 2014 Mr.Children released the single CD "Ashioto ~Be Strong"

2020
On December 2, 2020, Mr.Children released their 20th studio album SOUNDTRACKS.

Photographers
The band has collaborated with photographers such as Osami Yabuta, Reylia Slaby and Alfie Goodrich

 Oricon Chart Statistics 
 Artist's Total sales (CD Total Sales) : 58.61 million copies sold ( #2 most selling artist) 
 No.1 on Oricon Year-End Charts: 1994 ("innocent world"); 1996 ("Namonaki Uta"), 2007 (HOME), 2012 (Mr.Children Macro 2005-2010)
 Double Million Seller Singles: 2nd overall (1st - CHAGE and ASKA)  
 Million Seller Singles: 3rd overall (1st - B'z, 2nd - AKB48)  
 Million Seller Albums: 2nd overall (1st - B'z, 3rd - DREAMS COME TRUE) 
 The most non tie up Single sales : 1.82 million copies sold (by「See Saw Game」)
 Won Japan Record Grand Prix in 1994 for "innocent world" and won it again 10 years later for "Sign"

Charitable and other activities
Since their official debut, Mr.Children has engaged in social and charitable causes. As a group they participated in the live concert for Act Against AIDS on December 1, 1994 and again on December 1, 1995.  The goal of live was to raise awareness about AIDS. The proceeds from the event were donated to support children living with HIV. The live was followed up by a collaboration Act Against AIDS charity single with fellow Japanese artist Kuwata Keisuke titled ‘Kiseki no hoshi’ and released on January 23, 1995. On April 25, 2001 Kazutoshi Sakurai also participated in the recording of Zero Landmine, a single created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and promote a ban on landmines. In addition the group has also participated in Kazutoshi Sakura's solo project, AP bank. AP Bank, a nonprofit lending group, carries the goal of tackling environmental problems by financing environmentally friendly projects such as renewable energy, in addition to holding yearly festivals to raise money to fund additional projects. Since its inception in 2005, Mr.Children has been actively participating in the festivals, with an announcement in 2008 that the group will now work more closely with its cause by participating during the entire three-day festival duration in addition to further details to be announced at a later time.

Members Kazutoshi Sakurai and Kenichi Tahara joined together to create Acid Test for the concert ‘Dream Power John Lennon Super live broadcasting’ on October 9, 2001. The live was part of Yoko Ono’s Dream Power and educational platform where artists came together to hold a charity concert to raise money for school construction funds for children in Africa and Asia. The John Lennon song covered by Acid Test during the live, "Mother", was later recorded and released on a tribute album Happy Birthday, John, and released on September 30, 2005.

In addition to social causes, Mr.Children's music has been used as background music for numerous television advertisements, television programs, television drama's, and motion pictures. Examples of the group's commercial tie-ins include "and I love you", "Bokura no Oto", and "Tagatame" for Nissin Cup Noodle no Border commercials, 'Gift' for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on NHK, and "Tabidachi no uta" for the 2007 Japanese movie . As a group, Mr.Children have not endorsed products by physically appearing in television commercials or printed media advertisements. One of the methods used to help promote the group is through Brajackets, a dust jacket for books, which are available at stands in bookstores for free. The Brajacket serve as free advertising for various products from ice cream to movies and musicals. Mr. Children have used this method to promote singles and albums; for example  and I Love U (I♥U).

Fan club
The official fan club of Mr. Children is called Father & Mother, the title being derived from their name.  The fan club, which started in 1994, was kept relatively secretive at first, as the group has never made any mention of it on their official website. In 2006, for the release of the group's 29th single "Shirushi", the official website was revamped and with it information about the fan club was finally added. Just like before however, the fan club can only be joined by mail and requires an admission fee of 3,500 yen, with yearly re-applications for membership.

Band members 
 Current members
 Kazutoshi Sakurai – lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter
 Kenichi Tahara – guitar, backing vocals
He was born in Fukuoka and is charge of playing guitar in the band. He had joined the baseball team in high school but became interested in the guitar because he saw his classmate playing a guitar at a school festival. One day one of his classmates, Kazutoshi Sakurai brought his guitar to school. They bonded with each other over it and that became the catalyst for forming Mr.Children. Known for being quiet in live concerts, his fans become estatic when he says interacts with them.
 Keisuke Nakagawa – bass, backing vocals
Nakagawa was born in Nagasaki. His nickname is "Nakakei". He went to the same junior high school as Kenichi and Hideya where he started playing the bass. He is also famous for being a baseball fan.
 Hideya Suzuki – drums, backing vocals, also known as "Jen" and is the leader of Mr. Children

 Supporting members
 Takeshi Kobayashi – keyboards, producer
 Naoto Inti Raymi – guitar, chorus
 Takashi "Sunny" Katsuya – keyboards, backing vocals
 Shuji Kouguchi – guitar, harmonica

Discography

Albums 

* Compilation album.** Live album

Books

Official Books: 
 [es] Mr.Children in 370 DAYS (April 25, 1995)  C0076
 Mr.Children Everything 天才・桜井和寿 終わりなき音の冒険  (Mr.Children Everything -Tensai Sakurai Kazutoshi owarinaki oto no bouken-) (December 25, 1996)  C0073
 Mr.Children詩集「優しい歌」 (Mr.Children song collection -Yasashii Uta-) (December 10, 2001)  C0092

Tours

Official Tours:

'92 Everything Tour (September 23, 1992 – November 5, 1992)
 Visited 10 cities and held 10 concerts
'92 Your Everything Tour (September 26, 1992 – November 22, 1992)
 Visited 11 cities and held 12 concerts
'92–93 Kind of Love Tour (December 7, 1992 – January 25, 1993)
 Visited 9 cities and held 9 concerts
'93 Versus Tour (September 23, 1993 – November 5, 1993)
 Visited 9 cities and held 9 concerts
Mr. Children '94 tour innocent world (September 18, 1994 – December 18, 1994)
 Visited 24 cities and held 27 concerts
Mr.Children '95 Tour Atomic Heart (January 7, 1995 – February 20, 1995)
 Visited 10 cities and held 21 concerts
 (July 16, 1995 – September 10, 1995)
 Visited 11 cities and held 19 concerts
Regress or Progress (August 24, 1996 – March 28, 1997)
 Visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts
"Discovery" Tour '99 (February 14, 1999 – July 12, 1999)
 Visited 16 cities and held 42 concerts
Mr. Children Concert tour Q (October 15, 2000 – February 24, 2001)
 Visited 13 cities and held 35 concerts
Popsaurus Mr. Children (July 15, 2001 – September 25, 2001)
 Visited 10 cities and held 15 concerts
Wonderful World on Dec. 21 (December 21, 2002)
 A one night live. Originally intended to be a 26 city and 39 concert tour, but was canceled due to Kazutoshi Sakurai's hospitalization
 (June 12, 2004 – September 25, 2004)
 Stadium Tour, Visited 11 cities and held 21 concerts
Dome tour 2005 "I ♥ U" (November 12, 2005 – December 27, 2005)
 Dome Tour, Visited 5 cities and held 10 concerts
Mr. Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~ (September 26, 2006 – October 11, 2006)
 Hall tour, Visited 6 cities and held 7 concerts. The tour, a Zepp tour, was a joint effort with fellow rock group the pillows
Mr. Children "Home" Tour 2007 (May 4, 2007 – June 23, 2007)
 Arena tour, Visited 7 cities and held 14 concerts
Mr. Children "Home" Tour 2007 -in the field- (August 4, 2007 – September 30, 2007)
 Stadium tour, Visited 9 cities and held 14 concerts
" (Feb 14, 2009 – March 31, 2009)
 Arena Tour, Visited 17 cities and held 34 concerts
Mr.Children DOME TOUR 2009 ~SUPERMARKET FANTASY~ (November 28, 2009 – December 27, 2009)
 Dome tour, Visited 5 cities and held 11 concerts
Mr.Children Tour 2011 SENSE (February 19, 2011 – May 15, 2011)
 Arena Tour, Visited 9 cities and held 19 concerts
Mr.Children STADIUM TOUR 2011 SENSE -in the field- (August 20, 2011 – September 25, 2011)
 Stadium tour, Visited 6 cities and held 10 concerts
MR.CHILDREN TOUR POPSAURUS 2012 (April 14, 2012 – June 6, 2012)
 Dome tour, Visited 6 cities and held 14 concerts
Mr.Children [(an imitation) blood orange] Tour (December 15, 2012 – June 9, 2012)
 Dome tour, Visited 20 cities and held 40 concerts
Mr.Children FATHER&MOTHER 21st anniversary Fanclub Tour (September 17, 2014 – October 9, 2014)
 Zepp tour, Visited 5 cities and held 5 concerts
Mr.Children TOUR 2015 REFLECTION (March 14, 2015 – June 4, 2015)
 Arena Tour, Visited 10 cities and held 20 concerts
Mr.Children Stadium Tour 2015 未完 (July 8, 2015 – September 20, 2015)
 Stadium tour, Visited 10 cities and held 16 concerts
Mr.Children Hall tour 2016 "Niji"  (April 14, 2016 – May 26, 2016)
 Hall Tour, Visited 13 cities and held 13 concerts
Note: It is the first time in 14 years to hold Hall tour since 2002

Awards and Records

See also 
 Japanese rock
 Japan Record Awards
 MTV Video Music Awards Japan
 List of best-selling music artists in Japan
 List of best-selling singles in Japan

Footnotes

a. Early on in the group's career, Takeshi Kobayashi collaborated with Kazutoshi Sakurai on various songs in addition to writing songs himself. For example, "Dance dance dance" on the album Atomic Heart was co-composed by him, and  on the album Versus, was both composed and written by him. Over the years, his composing and lyrical work with the group has lessened with the last a-side track co-written by him and Kazutoshi Sakurai being  which was released on December 12, 1994 .

References

External links 
 Official website
 Mr. Children at Toy's Factory
 Innocent World – Unofficial English translations of Mr. Children news and articles
 Mr. Children English Fansite – Unofficial English translations of Mr. Children lyrics, guitar tabs and album reviews

Toy's Factory artists
Japanese pop rock music groups
Musical groups from Tokyo
Musical quartets
Musical groups established in 1988
Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.

The book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.

Tales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.

Purpose and structure

A didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem ("Some man has made me a proposition..." or "I fear that such and such person intends to...") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are "examples" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.

Each chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: "And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses." A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.

Origin of stories and influence on later literature
Many of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.

Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, "What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman".

Tale 32, "What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.

Story 7, "What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.

Tale 2, "What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market," is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.

In 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name "The Count Lucanor". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.

The stories

The book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.

 What Happened to a King and His Favorite 
 What Happened to a Good Man and His Son 
 How  King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors
 What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die 
 What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak
 How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown 
 What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana 
 What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed 
 What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion 
 What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils 
 What Happened to a Dean of  Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo
 What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster 
 What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges 
 The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer 
 What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville 
 The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes 
 What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner 
 What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg 
 What Happened to the Crows and the Owls 
 What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy 
 What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him 
 What Happened to the Lion and the Bull 
 How the Ants Provide for Themselves 
 What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons 
 What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin
 What Happened to the Tree of Lies 
 What Happened to an Emperor and to  Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives 
 What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain 
 What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead 
 What Happened to King Abenabet of  Seville and Ramayquía His Wife 
 How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor 
 What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth 
 What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron 
 What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another 
 What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman
 What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together 
 What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas 
 What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River 
 What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow 
 Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul 
 What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem 
 What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety 
 What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman 
 What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous 
 What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal 
 What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived 
 What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid 
 What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends 
 What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled 
 What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal 
 What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty

References

Notes

Bibliography

 Sturm, Harlan

 Wacks, David

External links

The Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.
JSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.
Selections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)

14th-century books
Spanish literature
1335 books "What Happened to Us" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. "What Happened to Us" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.

A remix of "What Happened to Us" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. "What Happened to Us" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.

Production and release

"What Happened to Us" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. "What Happened to Us" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.

Reception
Majhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a "Jordin Sparks-esque duet", and wrote that it "has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love." Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a "mid-tempo duet ballad" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, "What Happened to Us" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. "What Happened to Us" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.

Music video

Background
The music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said "the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour." The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single "Let Me Be Me" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.

Synopsis and reception
The video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is "easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever" and praised the "mansion and wondrous interior décor". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.

Live performances
Mauboy performed "What Happened to Us" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed "What Happened to Us" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed "What Happened to Us" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, "What Happened to Us" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.

Track listing

Digital download
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45

CD single
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39

Digital download – Remix
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38

Digital download
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20

Personnel
Songwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean
Production – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass
Additional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim
Lead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean
Mixing – Phil Tan
Additional mixing – Damien Lewis
Mastering – Tom Coyne 
Source:

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end chart

Certification

Radio dates and release history

References

2010 songs
2011 singles
Jessica Mauboy songs
Jay Sean songs
Songs written by Billy Steinberg
Songs written by Jay Sean
Songs written by Josh Alexander
Songs written by Israel Cruz
Vocal duets
Sony Music Australia singles
Songs written by Khaled Rohaim